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Censure of McArthur plunges TEC into
further Chaos RBC threatens to withdraw from Tribe
By Gary Blair
In a surprise move on Monday, the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's Tribal
Executive Committee (TEC) voted to
"censure" White Earth chairman Eugene "Bugger" McArthur as one of
their governing members. The censure involves White Earth's 1996 general election, wherein McArthur was
accused of violating the MCT's constitution, when he and another newly
elected official took office before being sworn in by the officials they replaced.
The censure now requires the White
Earth tribal council to hold a hearing
and take action on the charges before
McArthur will be allowed to return
to his former position on the TEC, the
management body of the MCT.
In a press release Tuesday,
McArthur denounced the action and
claimed the move had taken place
during another secret meeting of the
TEC, whose membership is made up
of two elected officials from six constituent reservations. McArthur also
criticized his former colleagues for
allowing indicted tribal officials to
participate in past TEC decisionmaking meetings.
McArthur's retort pointed to his
predecessors, the reservation's
former chairman, Darrell "Chip"
Wadena and secretary-treasurer
Jerry Rawley, who remained active
with TEC members even after they
were convicted. Wadena had served
as the MCT's chairman for over ten
years and resigned shortly before
being indicted.
McArthur likewise mentioned
former Leech Lake chairman Alfred
"Tig" Pemberton and secretary/treasurer Daniel Brown, who were also
involved with the TEC even after
they were convicted. Brown, who
has since served a one year federal
house arrest sentence for his role in
the theft from the Leech Lake
people, was the first tribal official
censured by the TEC. Censure from
the TEC is directed for action to the
relevant RBC, which must then hold
a hearing to determine whether to
remove the offending offical or
schedule a recall vote, as occurred in
Brown's case.
Four other former TEC members
who were also convicted for theft
while serving as reservation representatives are presently serving various
federal prison terms for corruption.
Wadena is imprisoned at the Sandstone Federal Prison, where sources
say he works in the library. Rawley
and Clark are incarcerated at the federal prison camp located north of
Duluth, MN. The White Earth trio was
convicted in 1996 of numerous counts
of fraud. Rawley and Clark were also
convicted of voting fraud that involved the reservation's 1990 and
1994 elections. Former TEC member
Pemberton is also serving time with
Harold "Skip" Finn, Minnesota's first
Indian state senator, at the same Duluth facility.
Both individuals were convicted
along with Brown in 1996, on fraud
charges that stemmed from a phony
TEC/cont. on pg. 5
1. Red Lake T C Member clubbed, robbed, pg. 6
2. Whitefeather Regime disgraces Red Lake, pg. 4
3. Attempt to remove Hunt thwarted, pg. 1
4. Censure of McArthur plunges TEC into chaos, pg. 1
5. The 1998 PRESS/ON Calender is on pg. 8
Voice of the People
e-mail: presson@bji.net
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For AH People
Attempt to remove Hunt thwarted
Founded ii1888
ia_
Volume 10 Issue Ml
January 8,1888
by Ann Dunn
Cass Lake, MN When Robert
Greyeagle arrived at the Leech Lake
Palace Bingo and Casino on Thursday
(Jan 8) to moderate a hearing for the
removal of LL Chairman Eli 0. Hunt,
he was met by LL band member
Walter Reese and Hunt.
Reese said, "I told him he was
unwelcome and asked him to leave."
Although Reese was courteous and
polite, Greyeagle refused to leave.
According to Reese, Hunt told
Greyeagle that he had no valid
contract with LL and no authority to
be involved with internal tribal
matters. Hunt also asked Greyeagle
to leave, but Greyeagle questioned
Hunt's authority to remove him.
Reese said Greyeagle was then
removed by security personnel.
Adam Steele, editor of the Northern
Herald Review, presented Hunt with
the 1997 Steele Spears Award for
conducting the first open government
(REC) meetings at LL in 25 years.
About 70% of the people in the
audience stood and applauded,
acknowledging their support of Hunt's
being selected for the annual award.
Elder Helen Cummings read the
inscription, a paraphased selection
from Ezekial. The text indicates that
the path of a righteous man is beset
by evil and tyranny.
Hunt restated his loyalty to the office
he holds and the people he serves. "I
advocate for what's best for all the
people, and not a select few," he said.
According to Hunt the hearing had
been scheduled without consulting
him. However, he had prepared a
statement to be read in the presence
of District Representatives Myron
Ellis, Jack Seelye and Al Fairbanks,
concerning their attempt to remove
him from office. Out of respect for
the offices they represent, Hunt did
not read the statement until the three
had arrived. But when Hunt began to
read the statement, Ellis, Seeley and
Fairbanks left the meeting.
As Ellis made his way toward the
back exit he was approached by elder
Dave Jackson. Jackson said, "Don't
walk out. Stick around." Ellis hit
Jackson in the chest. Jackson pushed
Ellis away from him.Immediately
several Ellis supporters intervened.
According to Jackson, Muriel Ellis
grabbed him by the shirt, breaking his
necklace. Jackson's friends and family
quickly gathered around him to
prevent further harm or injury to the
elder,
said he respected the right of people
Attempt/cont. pg. 6
J
A weakly iNMjication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
Red Lake man indicted on firearm charges
Minneapolis, MN A 57-year-old
Red Lake man was indicted Tuesday
by a federal grand jury for illegal
possession of a firearm.
Harry "Pee Wee" Hanson was
allegedly in possession of a Smith &
Wession 9 millimeter semi-automatic
pistol and one round of 9 mm Luger
ammunitiion, the grand jury charged
in its indictment.
Hanson has prior convictions in U.S.
District Court in 1976 for voluntarily
engaging in an act of sodomy, in 1979
for conspiring with others while armed
with dangerous weapons to prevent
by force, intimidation and threast, BIA
officers from performing their official
duties, and in Beltrami County in 1990
for third degree criminal sexual
conduct. Federal law prohibits anyone
convicted of a felony from possessing
a firearm.
If convicted, Hanson faces a
mandatory sentence of at least 15
years in prison. Any sentence would
be determined by a judge based on
federal sentencing guidelines.
The case case is the result of an
investigation by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and
the Red Lake Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B.
Wardlaw is prosecuting the case.
Leech Lake RTC Chairman Eli Hunt addressed nearly 300 tribal members at a meeting on Thursday morning in the
Paradise Room of the Palace Casino in Cass Lake, MN. The meeting followed an aborted hearing scheduled for Hunt's
removal.
Chippewa tribes ask judge to investigate
Interior, charging key memo was withheld
Tribe may leave from Chippewa alliance
White Earth tribal chairman says political, philosophical differences divide group
By Christopher Sprung
Fargo Forum
The Tribal Council of the White Earth
Band of Chippewa will meet today to
discuss withdrawing as a member of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
White Earth Tribal Chairman Eugene
"Bugger" McArthur said Tuesday that
deep political andphilosophical differences
divide White Earth and the MCT.
"All we've really received from them is
bad treatment. They don'tlikeour(election
and constitutional) reforms," McArthur
said.
"They'd try to do anything to submarine
what we're doing and put obstacles in our
path.'The MCT is the umbrella
organization that consists of six member
Chippewabands. They are the White Earth,
Grand Portage, Bois Forte, Fond du Lac,
Mille Lacs and Leech Lake bands.
Of the six bands, White Earth is by far the
largest, with about 24,000 enrolled
members.
The chairman and secretary-treasurer of
each member band becomes a part of the
MCT's Tribal Executive Committee.
Struggles with the executive committee
began soon after McArthur and a cadre of
reform-minded leaders came to power on
White Earth in June of 1996, after then
Tribal Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena
and key council members were convicted
of federal corruption charges.
Since then White Earth and the MCT's
executive committee have differed greatly
on constitutional and election reforms,
among other things.
Early on in his administration, McArthur
said he would prefer to work with the
MCTbut made it clearthat White Earth did
not need the organization and would not
allow it to dictate policy on the northwest
Minnesota reservation.
McArthur said White Earth's Tribal
Council has beenmullingthepossibilityof
leaving for some months but an action by
the MCT earlier this week may speed that
exit along.
On Monday, the MCT's executive
committee held asecretmeeting and voted
to censure McArthur, which means he no
longer has a vote on MCT matters,
McArthur said.
The committee cited a violation of an
MCT election ordinance in June of 1996
as the reason for censure.
However, McArthur said the move is
political troublemaking from a
"disgruntled, Old Guard" who want to
undermine reforms on the White Earth
Reservation.
On Tuesday, McArthur called for the
dissolution of the MCT's executive
committee, saying it has outlived its
usefulness.
"It's not only White Earth. Other
member bands feel the same way,"
McArthur said. Individual bands are self-
governing and the MCT has no authority
over them.
"There comes a point in time when
you've got to do what you've got to do,"
McArthur said.
"This will be the impetus for us to get
going on this and start the process for
White Earth."
01-07-98 Fargo Forum, reprinted with
permission
By Greg Gordon
Star Tribune
Washington Bureau Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C, — Backers
of a proposed Indian casino in
Hudson, Wis., have asked a federal
judge to consider holding an Interior
Department official in criminal contempt because he failed to provide a
copy of a draft memo that appears to
support the project.
A department spokesman dismissed
the move as an attempt to muzzle career civil servant George Skibine, who
has provided a key defense of the
department's rejection of the casino
application.
Lawyers for three Chippewa tribes
that sought the casino accused Skibine
of "misbehavior" in court papers filed
Tuesday in Madison, Wis., and suggested that U.S. District Judge Barbara
Crabb appoint a special counsel to investigate him.
Their charge further escalates legal
and political battles over the Interior
Department's 1995 decision to reject
the application for an off-reservation
casino at the financially foundering St.
Croix Meadows greyhound track.
The Chippewa tribes allege that the
department's decision was influenced
by hundreds of thousands of dollars
in campaign contributions to Democrats from Minnesota and Wisconsin
tribes opposed to the casino. Their allegations have spawned a lawsuit, a
Justice Department investigation and
three congressional inquiries.
Lawyers for the Chippewa tribes,
which want the court to throw out the
decision, argue that a memo attributed
to Skibine suggests that he favored the
project shortly before the decision was
issued.
They told the judge that concealment of the memo has al-lowed
Contempt/cont.on pg 6.
Indian activist Means pleads innocent
CHINLE, AZ (AP) Indian activist-actor Russell Means has pleaded innocent
to beating his father-in-law. Means entered the plea last Wednesday in Navajo tribal court in Chinle, Ariz., to
charges of battery and threatening.
The alleged battery occurred Dec. 29
at the Chinle residence of his father-in-
law, Leon Grant. Tribal police Capt.
Francis Bradley said police received a
complaint from Means' wife, Gloria, alleging Means had beaten her father.
Then, Grant himself came to police
with a swollen lip to file a complaint.
Means, a Lakota Sioux, was a founder
of the American Indian Movement, but
longtime A-I-M member Vernon
Bellecourt said Means is no longer associated.
Means portrayed a medicine man in
the movie "Natural Born Killers." His
autobiography, "Where White Men
Fear to Tread," was published in 1995.
Welfare reform to bring change to Indian
reservations
Changes in state law allow card rooms to
better compete with tribes
SEATTLE, WA The first non-tribal
mini-casinos are open in Renton and
Spokane under state laws intended to
help non-Indians compete in the gambling arena, and some observers say
it's time to come up withja state policy
on gambling.
The new, scaled-down casinos are
allowed under changes quietly approved by the Legislature over the
past two years to help card-room owners expand and compete.
So far, they've prompted nearly 80
requests for mini-casino licenses.
Over the next three months, the Washington State Gambling Commission
will vote on proposed mini-casinos in
Tukwila, Skyway, Anacortes,
>
Edmonds, LaCenter, Spokane,
Kennewick and near Bellingham.
Kim Laskey, director of marketing
for the Muckleshoot Indian Casino,
says he doesn't consider them direct
competition. "We provide gaming
customers more than just gambling _
we provide the complete entertainment experience," Laskey said.
"We feel our customers will continue to come to us for the overall experience." The mini-casinos, and a
pending federal court decision on the
legality of slot machines in tribal casinos, are prompting calls for a state
task force on gambling.
"It seems that we are just drifting
toward more gambling without know
ing where we are going or having a
state policy on it," said state Sen.
Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle.
Prentice said she doesn't want to stop
gambling. "I just don't want it to get
out of hand and go willy-nilly in any
direction," she said.
Not all the card-room owners who
have expressed interest in mini-casino
are likely to follow through, said Carrie Tellefson, the Gambling
Commission's director of policy,
planning and support.
She said she expects most will be
in south King County and the
LaCenter area, north of Vancouver.
Changes/cont. pg. 3
EAGLE BUTTE, SD (AP) Caroline
Sand lived on welfare for 17 years. It
was a way of life for her as for hundreds of other single mothers on the
impoverished Cheyenne River Indian
Reservation.
In fact, there are 61,000 Indian
households on welfare nationwide, a
majority of welfare households in
some Western states, seven of every
10 in Sand's home state.
Now she's got a job for the first time
in her life, and she likes it. "I got the
habit of working and kept on working. I got used to coming to work,"
said Sand, 40, a secretary and bookkeeper for the local Habitat for Humanity office since 1996.
In her old life, she said, "I wasn't
getting anywhere." Her story is being repeated over and over as the new
welfare law begins to transform life
on the nation's Indian reservations by
forcing recipients, many of whom
have never held any job, to find work
or perform community service.
"There's an urgency to go to work,
an urgency to learn. That's a huge,
huge change," said Bernie Le Plante,
who manages a tribally owned grocery store. Indians arguably pose the
biggest challenge to welfare reform
of any group of Americans. The biggest, most populated reservations are
located in the nation's most isolated
areas and have jobless rates sometimes reaching 80 percent.
Just graduating from high school is
often a major life achievement. "It's
fine to say, 'Guys you've got to go
to work.' But you've got to say there
is training there, jobs there and the
support services that are necessary tot
go to work," said Eddie Brown, a
former head of the federal Bureau of
Indian Affairs who now directs the
Center for American Indian Studies
at Washington University in St.
Louis.
Just last fall, the White Earth Band
of Chippewa in northwestern Minnesota started a two-year tribal and community college to improve job prospects and skills for members, as well
as preserve the Anishinabe language
and culture.
Many leaders, such as Gregg
Bourland, the college-educated chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux,
have embraced the changes in the
welfare system as a way to wean their
people from long dependency on the
federal government.
The law requires welfare recipients
to work at least 20 hours a week,
though the five-year time limit for
benefits is waived for reservations
where the unemployment rate exceeds
50 percent.
"Welfare reform is very good for
Welfare/cont. pg. 3

Censure of McArthur plunges TEC into
further Chaos RBC threatens to withdraw from Tribe
By Gary Blair
In a surprise move on Monday, the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's Tribal
Executive Committee (TEC) voted to
"censure" White Earth chairman Eugene "Bugger" McArthur as one of
their governing members. The censure involves White Earth's 1996 general election, wherein McArthur was
accused of violating the MCT's constitution, when he and another newly
elected official took office before being sworn in by the officials they replaced.
The censure now requires the White
Earth tribal council to hold a hearing
and take action on the charges before
McArthur will be allowed to return
to his former position on the TEC, the
management body of the MCT.
In a press release Tuesday,
McArthur denounced the action and
claimed the move had taken place
during another secret meeting of the
TEC, whose membership is made up
of two elected officials from six constituent reservations. McArthur also
criticized his former colleagues for
allowing indicted tribal officials to
participate in past TEC decisionmaking meetings.
McArthur's retort pointed to his
predecessors, the reservation's
former chairman, Darrell "Chip"
Wadena and secretary-treasurer
Jerry Rawley, who remained active
with TEC members even after they
were convicted. Wadena had served
as the MCT's chairman for over ten
years and resigned shortly before
being indicted.
McArthur likewise mentioned
former Leech Lake chairman Alfred
"Tig" Pemberton and secretary/treasurer Daniel Brown, who were also
involved with the TEC even after
they were convicted. Brown, who
has since served a one year federal
house arrest sentence for his role in
the theft from the Leech Lake
people, was the first tribal official
censured by the TEC. Censure from
the TEC is directed for action to the
relevant RBC, which must then hold
a hearing to determine whether to
remove the offending offical or
schedule a recall vote, as occurred in
Brown's case.
Four other former TEC members
who were also convicted for theft
while serving as reservation representatives are presently serving various
federal prison terms for corruption.
Wadena is imprisoned at the Sandstone Federal Prison, where sources
say he works in the library. Rawley
and Clark are incarcerated at the federal prison camp located north of
Duluth, MN. The White Earth trio was
convicted in 1996 of numerous counts
of fraud. Rawley and Clark were also
convicted of voting fraud that involved the reservation's 1990 and
1994 elections. Former TEC member
Pemberton is also serving time with
Harold "Skip" Finn, Minnesota's first
Indian state senator, at the same Duluth facility.
Both individuals were convicted
along with Brown in 1996, on fraud
charges that stemmed from a phony
TEC/cont. on pg. 5
1. Red Lake T C Member clubbed, robbed, pg. 6
2. Whitefeather Regime disgraces Red Lake, pg. 4
3. Attempt to remove Hunt thwarted, pg. 1
4. Censure of McArthur plunges TEC into chaos, pg. 1
5. The 1998 PRESS/ON Calender is on pg. 8
Voice of the People
e-mail: presson@bji.net
The
Fifty Cents
Ojibwe
News
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For AH People
Attempt to remove Hunt thwarted
Founded ii1888
ia_
Volume 10 Issue Ml
January 8,1888
by Ann Dunn
Cass Lake, MN When Robert
Greyeagle arrived at the Leech Lake
Palace Bingo and Casino on Thursday
(Jan 8) to moderate a hearing for the
removal of LL Chairman Eli 0. Hunt,
he was met by LL band member
Walter Reese and Hunt.
Reese said, "I told him he was
unwelcome and asked him to leave."
Although Reese was courteous and
polite, Greyeagle refused to leave.
According to Reese, Hunt told
Greyeagle that he had no valid
contract with LL and no authority to
be involved with internal tribal
matters. Hunt also asked Greyeagle
to leave, but Greyeagle questioned
Hunt's authority to remove him.
Reese said Greyeagle was then
removed by security personnel.
Adam Steele, editor of the Northern
Herald Review, presented Hunt with
the 1997 Steele Spears Award for
conducting the first open government
(REC) meetings at LL in 25 years.
About 70% of the people in the
audience stood and applauded,
acknowledging their support of Hunt's
being selected for the annual award.
Elder Helen Cummings read the
inscription, a paraphased selection
from Ezekial. The text indicates that
the path of a righteous man is beset
by evil and tyranny.
Hunt restated his loyalty to the office
he holds and the people he serves. "I
advocate for what's best for all the
people, and not a select few," he said.
According to Hunt the hearing had
been scheduled without consulting
him. However, he had prepared a
statement to be read in the presence
of District Representatives Myron
Ellis, Jack Seelye and Al Fairbanks,
concerning their attempt to remove
him from office. Out of respect for
the offices they represent, Hunt did
not read the statement until the three
had arrived. But when Hunt began to
read the statement, Ellis, Seeley and
Fairbanks left the meeting.
As Ellis made his way toward the
back exit he was approached by elder
Dave Jackson. Jackson said, "Don't
walk out. Stick around." Ellis hit
Jackson in the chest. Jackson pushed
Ellis away from him.Immediately
several Ellis supporters intervened.
According to Jackson, Muriel Ellis
grabbed him by the shirt, breaking his
necklace. Jackson's friends and family
quickly gathered around him to
prevent further harm or injury to the
elder,
said he respected the right of people
Attempt/cont. pg. 6
J
A weakly iNMjication.
Copyright Native American Press, 1888
Red Lake man indicted on firearm charges
Minneapolis, MN A 57-year-old
Red Lake man was indicted Tuesday
by a federal grand jury for illegal
possession of a firearm.
Harry "Pee Wee" Hanson was
allegedly in possession of a Smith &
Wession 9 millimeter semi-automatic
pistol and one round of 9 mm Luger
ammunitiion, the grand jury charged
in its indictment.
Hanson has prior convictions in U.S.
District Court in 1976 for voluntarily
engaging in an act of sodomy, in 1979
for conspiring with others while armed
with dangerous weapons to prevent
by force, intimidation and threast, BIA
officers from performing their official
duties, and in Beltrami County in 1990
for third degree criminal sexual
conduct. Federal law prohibits anyone
convicted of a felony from possessing
a firearm.
If convicted, Hanson faces a
mandatory sentence of at least 15
years in prison. Any sentence would
be determined by a judge based on
federal sentencing guidelines.
The case case is the result of an
investigation by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and
the Red Lake Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B.
Wardlaw is prosecuting the case.
Leech Lake RTC Chairman Eli Hunt addressed nearly 300 tribal members at a meeting on Thursday morning in the
Paradise Room of the Palace Casino in Cass Lake, MN. The meeting followed an aborted hearing scheduled for Hunt's
removal.
Chippewa tribes ask judge to investigate
Interior, charging key memo was withheld
Tribe may leave from Chippewa alliance
White Earth tribal chairman says political, philosophical differences divide group
By Christopher Sprung
Fargo Forum
The Tribal Council of the White Earth
Band of Chippewa will meet today to
discuss withdrawing as a member of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
White Earth Tribal Chairman Eugene
"Bugger" McArthur said Tuesday that
deep political andphilosophical differences
divide White Earth and the MCT.
"All we've really received from them is
bad treatment. They don'tlikeour(election
and constitutional) reforms," McArthur
said.
"They'd try to do anything to submarine
what we're doing and put obstacles in our
path.'The MCT is the umbrella
organization that consists of six member
Chippewabands. They are the White Earth,
Grand Portage, Bois Forte, Fond du Lac,
Mille Lacs and Leech Lake bands.
Of the six bands, White Earth is by far the
largest, with about 24,000 enrolled
members.
The chairman and secretary-treasurer of
each member band becomes a part of the
MCT's Tribal Executive Committee.
Struggles with the executive committee
began soon after McArthur and a cadre of
reform-minded leaders came to power on
White Earth in June of 1996, after then
Tribal Chairman Darrell "Chip" Wadena
and key council members were convicted
of federal corruption charges.
Since then White Earth and the MCT's
executive committee have differed greatly
on constitutional and election reforms,
among other things.
Early on in his administration, McArthur
said he would prefer to work with the
MCTbut made it clearthat White Earth did
not need the organization and would not
allow it to dictate policy on the northwest
Minnesota reservation.
McArthur said White Earth's Tribal
Council has beenmullingthepossibilityof
leaving for some months but an action by
the MCT earlier this week may speed that
exit along.
On Monday, the MCT's executive
committee held asecretmeeting and voted
to censure McArthur, which means he no
longer has a vote on MCT matters,
McArthur said.
The committee cited a violation of an
MCT election ordinance in June of 1996
as the reason for censure.
However, McArthur said the move is
political troublemaking from a
"disgruntled, Old Guard" who want to
undermine reforms on the White Earth
Reservation.
On Tuesday, McArthur called for the
dissolution of the MCT's executive
committee, saying it has outlived its
usefulness.
"It's not only White Earth. Other
member bands feel the same way,"
McArthur said. Individual bands are self-
governing and the MCT has no authority
over them.
"There comes a point in time when
you've got to do what you've got to do,"
McArthur said.
"This will be the impetus for us to get
going on this and start the process for
White Earth."
01-07-98 Fargo Forum, reprinted with
permission
By Greg Gordon
Star Tribune
Washington Bureau Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C, — Backers
of a proposed Indian casino in
Hudson, Wis., have asked a federal
judge to consider holding an Interior
Department official in criminal contempt because he failed to provide a
copy of a draft memo that appears to
support the project.
A department spokesman dismissed
the move as an attempt to muzzle career civil servant George Skibine, who
has provided a key defense of the
department's rejection of the casino
application.
Lawyers for three Chippewa tribes
that sought the casino accused Skibine
of "misbehavior" in court papers filed
Tuesday in Madison, Wis., and suggested that U.S. District Judge Barbara
Crabb appoint a special counsel to investigate him.
Their charge further escalates legal
and political battles over the Interior
Department's 1995 decision to reject
the application for an off-reservation
casino at the financially foundering St.
Croix Meadows greyhound track.
The Chippewa tribes allege that the
department's decision was influenced
by hundreds of thousands of dollars
in campaign contributions to Democrats from Minnesota and Wisconsin
tribes opposed to the casino. Their allegations have spawned a lawsuit, a
Justice Department investigation and
three congressional inquiries.
Lawyers for the Chippewa tribes,
which want the court to throw out the
decision, argue that a memo attributed
to Skibine suggests that he favored the
project shortly before the decision was
issued.
They told the judge that concealment of the memo has al-lowed
Contempt/cont.on pg 6.
Indian activist Means pleads innocent
CHINLE, AZ (AP) Indian activist-actor Russell Means has pleaded innocent
to beating his father-in-law. Means entered the plea last Wednesday in Navajo tribal court in Chinle, Ariz., to
charges of battery and threatening.
The alleged battery occurred Dec. 29
at the Chinle residence of his father-in-
law, Leon Grant. Tribal police Capt.
Francis Bradley said police received a
complaint from Means' wife, Gloria, alleging Means had beaten her father.
Then, Grant himself came to police
with a swollen lip to file a complaint.
Means, a Lakota Sioux, was a founder
of the American Indian Movement, but
longtime A-I-M member Vernon
Bellecourt said Means is no longer associated.
Means portrayed a medicine man in
the movie "Natural Born Killers." His
autobiography, "Where White Men
Fear to Tread," was published in 1995.
Welfare reform to bring change to Indian
reservations
Changes in state law allow card rooms to
better compete with tribes
SEATTLE, WA The first non-tribal
mini-casinos are open in Renton and
Spokane under state laws intended to
help non-Indians compete in the gambling arena, and some observers say
it's time to come up withja state policy
on gambling.
The new, scaled-down casinos are
allowed under changes quietly approved by the Legislature over the
past two years to help card-room owners expand and compete.
So far, they've prompted nearly 80
requests for mini-casino licenses.
Over the next three months, the Washington State Gambling Commission
will vote on proposed mini-casinos in
Tukwila, Skyway, Anacortes,
>
Edmonds, LaCenter, Spokane,
Kennewick and near Bellingham.
Kim Laskey, director of marketing
for the Muckleshoot Indian Casino,
says he doesn't consider them direct
competition. "We provide gaming
customers more than just gambling _
we provide the complete entertainment experience," Laskey said.
"We feel our customers will continue to come to us for the overall experience." The mini-casinos, and a
pending federal court decision on the
legality of slot machines in tribal casinos, are prompting calls for a state
task force on gambling.
"It seems that we are just drifting
toward more gambling without know
ing where we are going or having a
state policy on it," said state Sen.
Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle.
Prentice said she doesn't want to stop
gambling. "I just don't want it to get
out of hand and go willy-nilly in any
direction," she said.
Not all the card-room owners who
have expressed interest in mini-casino
are likely to follow through, said Carrie Tellefson, the Gambling
Commission's director of policy,
planning and support.
She said she expects most will be
in south King County and the
LaCenter area, north of Vancouver.
Changes/cont. pg. 3
EAGLE BUTTE, SD (AP) Caroline
Sand lived on welfare for 17 years. It
was a way of life for her as for hundreds of other single mothers on the
impoverished Cheyenne River Indian
Reservation.
In fact, there are 61,000 Indian
households on welfare nationwide, a
majority of welfare households in
some Western states, seven of every
10 in Sand's home state.
Now she's got a job for the first time
in her life, and she likes it. "I got the
habit of working and kept on working. I got used to coming to work,"
said Sand, 40, a secretary and bookkeeper for the local Habitat for Humanity office since 1996.
In her old life, she said, "I wasn't
getting anywhere." Her story is being repeated over and over as the new
welfare law begins to transform life
on the nation's Indian reservations by
forcing recipients, many of whom
have never held any job, to find work
or perform community service.
"There's an urgency to go to work,
an urgency to learn. That's a huge,
huge change," said Bernie Le Plante,
who manages a tribally owned grocery store. Indians arguably pose the
biggest challenge to welfare reform
of any group of Americans. The biggest, most populated reservations are
located in the nation's most isolated
areas and have jobless rates sometimes reaching 80 percent.
Just graduating from high school is
often a major life achievement. "It's
fine to say, 'Guys you've got to go
to work.' But you've got to say there
is training there, jobs there and the
support services that are necessary tot
go to work," said Eddie Brown, a
former head of the federal Bureau of
Indian Affairs who now directs the
Center for American Indian Studies
at Washington University in St.
Louis.
Just last fall, the White Earth Band
of Chippewa in northwestern Minnesota started a two-year tribal and community college to improve job prospects and skills for members, as well
as preserve the Anishinabe language
and culture.
Many leaders, such as Gregg
Bourland, the college-educated chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux,
have embraced the changes in the
welfare system as a way to wean their
people from long dependency on the
federal government.
The law requires welfare recipients
to work at least 20 hours a week,
though the five-year time limit for
benefits is waived for reservations
where the unemployment rate exceeds
50 percent.
"Welfare reform is very good for
Welfare/cont. pg. 3